Ethan Skolnick: Miami Heat, who will visit White House on Monday, already have a connection to President Obama

Ethan J. Skolnick

Saturday

Jan 26, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 27, 2013 at 12:45 AM

Shane Battier needed to keep a secret.

He knew, back in August 2010, what he had been summoned to do, by someone you don’t decline, someone who wanted to celebrate a 49th birthday in style.

"Everything had to be kept under wraps," Battier said. "I got the invite to play basketball with the president. I just wanted to tell the world. They’re like, ‘Don’t tell anyone, or else you’re off the list. This is a matter of national security.’"

Battier’s connection to former Duke teammate Reggie Love, President Obama’s special assistant, had created an unusual opportunity. Well before he would sign on to play with them regularly, Battier would share a court at Fort McNair in D.C. with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and a fortysomething gentleman who had Battier what called an "awkward, janky" southpaw game.

"The president had fairly good quicks and actually a pretty good handle," Battier said. "He actually was a willing distributor and a delegator. I don’t think he had a right hand at all. He was pretty good with his left hand."

Considering his political leanings, not a surprise.

"That was the joke going around that day," Battier said.

There will be more smiles Monday, when Battier and his Heat teammates have a more formal meeting with the president at the White House to be honored for winning the 2012 NBA title.

Commemorating champions has been customary for presidents for decades, but what makes this event unusual is that so many of the players know this particular president already.

Obama invited Wade to a roundtable on fatherhood in 2009. Wade sat with Alonzo Mourning for the CNN-televised event as Obama joked that one of the sacrifices of fatherhood was that he "couldn’t watch D-Wade on SportsCenter" as much as he’d like.

James has interacted with Obama on several occasions, although the Heat forward chose last week not to reveal the nature of their conversations. "I don’t feel like dealing with them right now, trying to clear my story," James said, laughing.

Chris Bosh wasn’t part of that 2010 game, which also included Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, Grant Hill, Maya Moore, Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose, and Joakim Noah, the Chicago center who famously gave a hard foul to the nation’s first (Bulls) fan.

"There was a game?" Bosh asked. "Yeah, I don’t get invited to those things. I don’t know why."

Wade joked that Obama had no reason to watch the Raptors, for whom Bosh then toiled. Since joining the Heat, however, Bosh has spent time with Obama twice, once at an event in New York, and another time at the house of Mourning, who held a fundraiser.

Point guard Norris Cole met Obama before turning pro.

"He came to Cleveland State," Cole said. "He was speaking in our auxiliary gym there. I was able to get in there, sat front row, and shook his hand afterwards. He recognized me then, but he recognized me because of my hair. He shook my hand, said, ‘Kid ‘n’ Play.’ "

Now he might know Cole for something other than resembling a 1980s hip-hop artist.

Some of the Heat players are unlikely to be overwhelmed by the surroundings. Udonis Haslem was part of the 2006 contingent that presented President George W. Bush with a basketball – one that proved too flat for Bush to bounce. Many of those coaches, staffers and executives are still with the team, even as the roster has turned over.

"We’ll make sure we have air in the ball this time," coach Erik Spoelstra said.

And this time, Wade won’t be in a shoulder sling.

Mario Chalmers and Ray Allen also were honored by Bush, Chalmers for his role in Kansas’ 2008 NCAA championship and Allen for his part in the Boston Celtics’ 2008 NBA championship. Bush made special mention of Chalmers, who had made the game-tying shot in the title game: "The guy’s known as Super Mario. Then he became known as MVP."

That was just a week prior to Obama’s first inauguration.

Now, the Heat will visit a week after his second one.

What will Bosh ask him?

"What’s been going on?"

And no, there isn’t expected to be another chance for the president to showcase his game.

"He’s a guy who, when we played with him, he would pass a lot, but he can hit the open jump shot," Wade said. "He’s kind of a smooth player."

A smooth player who, like many in the NBA, has taken a shot from Noah.

"Joakim kind of roughed him up a little bit," Wade said.

Would Bosh ever do that?

"No, Secret Service is there, and I don’t want to wake up in the back of a truck or nothing like that," Bosh said. "Keep it clean."

For the Heat, Monday should be good, clean fun.

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